


Rise of the Game Master

by yeti100



Series: Luke's Next Adventure [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-13
Updated: 2012-07-13
Packaged: 2017-11-09 21:26:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/458615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeti100/pseuds/yeti100
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A deadly game of shadows envelops oxford and it's up to the university's newest protectors to play or die</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Like the Alien From Alien

we're both back at university for our second year, Luke flew through his first year got top marks, me i got through well enough but this year is were i hit my stride hopefully. Luke invited me to spend the summer with him and his mum, we had a brilliant time, stopped an alien invasion, attended an alien tea party and Clyde even taught me how to work a skateboard, and shortly afterwards Rani took me on a first aid course. currently we're both heading back to Luke's room after one of our more interesting adventures

"i did tell you to duck"

Luke sent me a burst of annoyance across our mental connection, it was amazing how good he was getting at that, it felt like a psychic flick on the forehead the reason for his annoyance was at this present moment he was covered head to toe in alien slime.

"you could have told me that about five seconds earlier"

our latest adventure had come from a travelling circus. it's universally renowned for being one of the most spectacular shows in the entire universe and unfortunately for them one of there star attractions the amphiclops, a giant one eyed frog named Marney had escaped somewhere on earth

"well on the plus side, we found her, and got her back to the Circus, and they promised us free tickets to the show whenever we wanted"

i was really excited at that, i had only seen the show once when i was little but it had been indescribable, when aphelion returned i was going to have to take Luke and everyone else to see it.

"on the down side Marney felt threatened when she heard us and spat all this at me, what is this anyway"

he was rubbing some of the slime between his fingers and was wearing that adorably curious look he always seemed to have when we encountered something new

"its a bit of a self defense mechanism, Marney comes from a desert world with patches of water here and there, if she is threatened she covers a predator with that stuff in one burst and when it gets hot the slime hardens in an instant completely immobilises just about anything"

his curiosity disappeared and was replaced by annoyance

"so on top of everything else I'm gonna have to take a cold shower to wash this stuff out"

i nodded my head quickly before turning away to hide a snort of laughter

"its best to play it safe Luke, if that stuff solidifies, it will take days to break it up"

i think that had been part of the stage show, one of the clowns ends up encased in amphiclops slime, then the others spent at least ten minutes hitting him to try and break it up, i couldn't stop laughing

"ok but how did you convince Marney that we weren't going to hurt her, she didn't even try to slime you"

"oh that's easy i told her so"

Luke stopped to pick a rather slimy door key out of his pocket

"so you're an alien doctor Doolittle, anything else i should know about you"

i was tempted to tell him i could fly, but Luke could always tell when i was lying

"well i have a few tricks left up my sleeve, I'm pretty certain i can cook an omelette with my eyes closed"

he grinned quickly before opening his door quickly and disappearing into the bathroom, after a few seconds i heard the water running

"hey weren't you supposed to talk to your mum tonight"

"oh yeah can you set up the video chat"

working my way quickly around Luke's computer i hooked up the web cam and then logged him into webchat

"oh, hello Marcus i was expecting Luke is he there"

over Sarah-Jane's shoulder i saw Clyde and Rani as well

"yeah he's just in the shower, we had a little run in with an amphiclops, fairly harmless but very slimy"

Sarah-Jane looked like she was doing her best no to laugh, but behind her Clyde and Rani had given in to fits of giggles

"well its good to see your both alright, i trust everything went OK"

i gave her a reassuring nod and she smiled satisfied that we were both Okay, in the other room i heard the sound of the water being turned off

"alright he's just coming, Luke make sure your decent, the web cams on"

this comment came after i accepted a chat request from Maria but forgot to tell Luke, when he came out with a towel wrapped around his waist to find some clean clothes i think this was the first time Maria had seen Luke with his shirt off, he turned bright red.

Luke quickly stepped into the room and i moved off the seat to let him sit down and stood by his shoulder

"ah there you are, i thought i'd best tell you Mr Smith detected a small energy pulse close to the university early this morning"

i quickly flipped open my scanner and plugged it into the computer, after a few seconds Mr smith's data appeared on my scanner

"its quite a short burst of energy, K-9 do you have any ideas"

K-9 rolled out and i knelt down to show him the readings

"negative Master Luke, it appears you are failing to do your job at Maximum efficiency Mr Smith perhaps you need some time off"

both Luke and Sarah-Jane rolled their eyes at K-9 they both got on a lot better but their rivalry was still there

"alright K-9 enough of that, i don't know if it's anything to worry about but i thought it best to tell you both, anything else you want to talk about?"

i left them to it and took another look at Mr Smith's data, it was too short to get anything other than an approximate location of where it ended and no clue where it began, a mystery

"OK mum, we might go and check it out tomorrow after lectures, speak to you later"

"love you"

"love you too mum"

it was good to see they were still so close, but i felt something heavy on my heart and decided it was a good moment for me to leave

"I'll see you tomorrow, make sure you some get me or I'll never wake up in time"

he nodded in agreement and i closed the door behind me

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"i can't believe how boring that guy is, he can even make supernova's sound like little more than flickering candles"

Marcus had been complaining about our lecturer for the past ten minutes although i wasn't really paying attention we had been driving for about half an hour trying to track down the endpoint of the mysterious energy burst

"oh hang on stop for a second, i think i've got something, pull over for a second"

i brought the car to a stop on the side of the road and then let K-9 out of the back seats

"K-9 i have some readings can you confirm"

"yes Marcus analyzing"

K-9 was getting us a few strange looks but he was a lot easier to explain than officer Tibo

"readings confirmed energy trace 10 meters to our left and 3 meters below us"

with a quick nod we took off after K-9 running down the streets.

"K-9 whats wrong, this is a dead end"

"negative Master Luke, this is the correct path"

before i could ask what he meant K-9 turned to his left and disappeared through a solid wall

"fancy, a holographic disguise, wonder what could have made that"

i poked my hand through the wall experimentally and felt the hairs on my arms stand on end

"i don't know but it would be safe to assume that whatever made this is the cause of the energy readings from yesterday"

nodding his agreement Marcus stepped forwards through the wall, and after a few seconds i followed, the wall concealed a set of stairs leading down quite steeply, i don't think I'm claustrophobic but in the dark going down i couldn't help but shiver. Marcus sensed my fear and activated the light on his watch flooding the small passage with light. when we finally reached the bottom of the steps the strange smell was much stronger. Marcus looked really worried

"whats wrong"

he stopped in place clearly something wasn't right

"I'm not sure, something is alive down here. i can sense it, i can sense...hunger!"

a terrible screech accompanied that last word, before either of us could react a strange creature stormed across the room knocking us both on our backs before scuttling up the stairs

"Marcus you alright"

i heard a groan from somewhere off to my left after pulling him up we set off back up the stairs, K-9 hot on our heels

"any idea what that was K-9"

"Master Luke life form is a truncle"

i saw a flicker of white flash through Marcus's hair, it must be bad

"Marcus what is a truncle?"

he paused a second before responding, it was a habit of his i noticed whenever he was nervous

"a truncle is an unstoppable predator with an insatiable appetite, the best way to describe it is, well, ah its like the alien from alien"

i had only ever seen that film once Clyde had brought it round, they reminded me a lot of slitheen when they were fully grown

"so this thing is looking for a host body, and then its going to kill someone from the inside out"

we made it back to my car and jumped in

"yeah it will shed its shell quickly, then look for a host, it will choose somewhere with a lot of people it will stay inside the host for about 3 hours then when it's large enough it will break free and will need to devour a lot of organic matter to sustain the next phase of its growth"

i had a strong feeling that for the organic matter it needed, humans would do nicely

"ok well what about schools there are a couple nearby"

i started up the car i knew we had to be quick

"no the host needs to be a certain size, full grown adult, it will pick somewhere with the greatest concentration of suitable hosts, where would that be"

i quickly raced through the facts and figures stored in my head

"by my calculation the greatest concentration of suitable hosts is the university"

the look on his face said it all, of course it is. we drove quickly, if it found somewhere to hide in the university, then the entire campus will be in danger

"Master Luke alien life form detected moving through the alley on our left"

i pulled over quickly. we got out and chased the disappearing shape of the truncle down the alleyway. Marcus turned the corner a few feet ahead of me and tripped over the truncle shell

"dammit, its already shed its shell, K-9 can you track it"

K-9's nose extended and he rolled off down the alley to the left. we took off in hot pursuit. he lead us quickly down the alley across the street and onto the campus straight into Luke's dorm

"master insufficient data to continue tracking the truncle"

oh that's not good

"killer alien loose somewhere in a dorm full of possible hosts, we need a plan"

mostly Marcus's plans involved our goals and not much else

"i agree, and i think you might be a good place to start Marcus, you sensed its hunger when we were underground, do you think you can do it again"

he closed his eyes, i could feel his mind brush past mine and the minds of everyone in the building

"got it, follow me"

we both ran as fast as we could, bypassing the queue at the elevator we hit the stairs at a sprint and climbed up like our lives depended on it

"this way"

he ran out onto the fourth floor and kept going, my muscles are burning but i have to keep going. he stopped just outside room 413

"it's in here"

he reached out and knocked on the door. the student who opened it was easily a head taller than both of us and definitely fit the requirements for a truncle host

"and you two are"

"in a hurry, sorry about this"

before anyone could react there was a flash of light from the palm of Marcus's hand and the guy dropped to the floor, out cold. i frowned at him but he ignored me and dragged our unfortunate victim back into the room

"before you say anything that involves me being in trouble luke, it was a stun bomb from solaris, and we really are in a hurry"

K-9 wheeled in behind us

"Master Luke, in depth biological scan confirms the truncle is inside him"

"Ok that's good, but how do we get it out?"

"regret Master Luke, there is only one way i know of that this life form will leave its host"

he didn't have to say it

"i don't know how to get it out Luke, but i think i know how we can buy ourselves more time"

Marcus walked out into the hall and hit the fire alarm. to me it just sounded like the dinner bell for the truncle

"OK that will save a lot of people, but what about this guy"

he looked smug, and he only ever looked smug when he knew something i didn't

"simple Luke, the truncle is keeping on eye on things, even from inside its host, if it can't sense enough prey close by it will slow down its growth indefinitely, won't burst until its certain it has enough organic matter close by to sustain the next phase of its growth"

i could hear the sound of people moving about downstairs

"OK now what about him, there has to be another way, i mean what if the host was in danger, would it leave then before its grown large enough to do any damage"

before he could answer a giant flash of light hit the building. a lot of people stuck their heads out of the windows, us included, surrounding the entire building as high as we could see was a force field, it was translucent but had a sinister red glow to it

"is this the truncle's doing, is it trying to keep its food from escaping?"

"no there's no way, i mean for a truncle to do this, well the equivalent would be monkey writing a sonnet worthy of Shakespeare"

i filed that away in my head, the force field can be a mystery for later

"back to the matter at hand..."

the truncle gave a stir and its host started having a fit

"help me hold him down"

we both tried our best, but he was very strong

"Luke what were you saying earlier, if the host is in danger"

i took a few seconds to pin an arm to the ground before i could speak

"will it leave the body prematurely if it feels threatened"

he thought about it for a second too long, one particularly violent fit and we were both flung against the walls.

"i think i can trick the truncle, make it think its host is in danger so it will leave before it is fully grown to save itself, try and hold him still"

i did my best while Marcus knelt down and pressed his finger tips against the mans temples, i heard him whisper

"I'm so sorry"

the fits turned into a frenzy of flailing limbs, but Marcus held him in place, for a minute of frantic movement nothing happened, then from Brad's throat, i saw something, little more than a tentacle at first, but a sprawling mass of limbs and teeth soon followed. Marcus couldn't move he was still linked to brad. the creature reared up to attack him

"K-9 now"

his laser flashed bright and the creature fell against the wall

"good dog K-9"

Marcus moved gently away from brad and lent heavily against the far wall

"he'll be fine, wake up in a few minutes, hopefully won't remember any of this" he turned to look at the truncle "as for that, I'm not sure what to do with it, its down but not out, any ideas"

i didn't have long to come up with an answer, the same bright light struck the building and when i could open my eyes again, the truncle and the force field was gone

"K-9 what was that?"

"insufficient data Master Luke although it did bear a similar energy trace to the reading from Mr Smith, suggest both phenomenon are connected"

the man on the ground gave a stir and we both quickly left the room, we had done it, saved people's lives, but there were too many strange things to make it feel like much of a victory

once we made it back into my room i kicked off my shoes and collapsed onto my bed, Marcus followed suit and lowered himself into my computer chair

"I'll call my mum tell her everything that's happened, I'm sure Mr Smith can handle a cover story"

he nodded but he wasn't really listening, he looked tired run down, i had seen the same flicker of black in his eyes that mum had told me about

"I'm sorry you had to do that, scare the truncle out of its host"

he looked at me and gave a small smile in thanks, at the same time i felt him gently brush past my emotions

"thanks, is there anything else you wanted to ask"

ah so he had sensed my concern

"yeah yesterday after talking to mum you left quite quickly, was something wrong, you looked upset"

"and i thought i was supposed to be the empath" he sighed before continuing "just saw you and Sarah-Jane how close you are, it stirred up some old memories"

his mother, oh how could i have missed that, no wonder he looked so upset

"I'm sorry, you must miss her"

"you don't need to be sorry Luke, but you're right i do miss her, sometimes it just hits me that she isn't there and she won't ever be again"

he looked like he was about to cry

"hey do you want to crash here tonight, i can set up the blow-up mattress"

"yeah that would be good"

i took a few minutes to set things up for him

"thanks for this Luke, its good to have company, till i get my head back on straight"

"no problem, one thing though, do you remember where we left my car"

he shrugged his shoulders, oh well something to do tomorrow at least

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"this round of games is complete mistress what shall we do with those who failed there challenges"

"feed them to the truncle, it must be starving by now, poor thing, we can feed it up for the next round of games"

"right away"

distant screams of horror could be heard as the truncle feasted

"i had been hoping that you would be my opponent in the games Sarah-Jane, but this boy of yours and his friend, they will be much more interesting"


	2. A star is born

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A star is born and the Doctor owes luke a new car

it was early I'm pretty certain, I could hear K-9 whirring somewhere near my head, Marcus was still staying with me, it was strange, mum told me the last time he used his abilities his emotions were all out of balance, but he got over it fairly quickly, but this time. I told him he could stay for as long as he needed, trying to help anyway I can, but i think if I'm going to help, i need to find out whats troubling him and help him deal with it. but before that i need to figure out why someones banging on my door this early in the morning.

"alright I'm coming"

I stepped my way carefully around Marcus's makeshift bed and opened the door.

"hey you're Luke smith yeah? good"

the woman outside the door pushed her way into my room, flaming red hair streaming out behind her

"Amy are you sure this is him?, I know you said third time lucky, but if we keep walking into student rooms uninvited we're going to get kicked out of the building"

a man was stopped in the doorway, he wasn't quite as flamboyant as amy but there was something about his eyes that caught my attention

"yes Rory I'm sure, look he's got the metal dog and everything"

all the noise had finally woken Marcus up

"hmm look if your going to have company Luke you may want to tell me to clear out first"

he had a dopey half asleep smile on his face I settled for rolling my eyes before turning to my two new guests

"OK who the hell are you two!"

this was way too early, Rory stepped forwards to take charge of the situation

"yes sorry, I'm Rory this is my wife Amy, we're travelling with the doctor, he sent us, because we need your help"

guess going back to sleep is out of the question

"the doctor, isn't he that alien friend of your mums Luke?"

Marcus looked a bit more awake

"yeah he is, what do you mean he needs our help?"

Amy had been examining K-9 but quickly turned to me

"we're not sure this days been a bit weird, well weirder than usual, basically he told us to come find you, round up any alien technology you might have and then bring you with us, so come on then you two get dressed, we've got a planet to save"

it took us about ten minutes to get ready, once ready all four of us gathered up any alien odds and ends we had picked up during the course of our adventures and ran down to my car

"so yeah we had just stopped in London, ok we were aiming for leadworth but we missed, anyway we decided to make the most of it next thing we know the tardis went crazy and abandoned the three of us took off to who knows where"

Amy had been explaining on the way out of the building, opening my car we all quickly piled in, it was a very tight squeeze K-9 ended up on top of Amy and Rory in the back seats

"OK but why does he need us?"

I had been trying to figure out why the doctor could need us, he's certainly capable on his own

"he's trying to track down the tardis right now, he told us to find you, said he might need help and you were the closest person we could call on"

made sense stuck in London me and mum were the best chance for help, before I could ask anymore questions my mobile started ringing in my pocket

"hold still Luke"

Marcus fished my phone out of my pocket and answered

"hello who is this"

he listened to the reply for a few seconds

"no this isn't a wrong number, yeah well Luke's driving, alright hang on I'll put the phone on speaker"

he quickly pressed the speaker button and the doctor's voice rang out through the car

"Luke smith is that you, oh hang on yes I'm sorry madam but this is an emergency, yes i will give you the phone back in a moment"

i couldn't help but laugh the doctor clearly hasn't changed that much

"yes its me doctor, we're in my car, now are you going to give us directions or am I just driving around London at random until I find you"

I waited for a moment I could hear the doctors argument on the other end of the phone bursting into fluent french

"sorry Luke I'm close to the tardis it should be materialising somewhere around here"

i heard a sound on the other side of the phone and then a massive burst of light off to our left

"ah yes Luke I suspect I found the tardis, just follow that light, I'll meet you there, and step on it"

I hit the accelerator and we turned off towards the light, it took about ten minutes for us to find the doctor, and the sight we saw when we arrived was unbelievable. the tardis was there and above it surrounded in a gentle blue field was something I would have thought was impossible, it looked like a star

"ah there you are Luke, Amy, Rory, K-9 and who are you, and why are you poking around in my head"

the doctor was looking straight at Marcus

"sorry I never properly learnt how to control my abilities doctor, but I think that's besides the point right now, what is that"

we all turned to look at the star suspended above the tardis

"that is a phoenix, I've encountered there like before, they look like stars and for all intents and purposes they are stars, except they are alive, and this one is just about to be born right above the earth"

as he spoke there was another surge of light from the phoenix and the temperature skyrocketed

"right that's enough talk we should never waste time talking, now what have you brought me Luke"

I quickly picked out all the technology I had brought with me

"ah excellent, good yes, now with a bit of improvisation, and a little bit of sonicking, aha here we have a gylflaxian cryo unit"

the device he was holding looked like an outer-space rubix cube, between the two of us it had taken about ten minutes to put together and the temperature was still rising

"ok thats great doctor now will you tell us what the hell is going on?"

another pulse of light and we all had to retreat even further away from the tardis, the doctor turned to Amy to answer her question

"yes right, the phoenix is about to be born, its hatched if you like and when it does that its going to release a massive wave of heat vaporising all the water close by turning it into hydrogen and oxygen everything a growing star needs, and when that happens the entire earth will be destroyed, this device I built with Luke's help will allow me to get close to the tardis so i can stabilise the time field that the tardis generated to keep the first blast of heat from destroying the earth, and then I have to find a way to get the phoenix out into space and locate a safe place for it to be born, thereby saving the earth and one of the most unique lifeforms I've ever encountered, anymore questions amy, no, good now shut up I have to get the settings right on this thing or I may end up freezing myself solid"

I took a few moments to process everything he just said, I turned to Marcus to ask him if he knew anything else about the phoenix, but he was just staring at the creature, I took a step towards him and touched his arm

"are you alright?"

he didn't really respond, he spoke but he wasn't really paying me any attention

"I'm OK Luke, its just, I don't know, its like I can sense something from the creature, even frozen in time I can still sense it"

the doctor was finished fiddling with the device he created and took off towards the tardis, even as the rest of us were forced to retreat further away, we waited a few minutes and then my phone rang again

"Luke this is very bad the time field won't stabilise, and I can't fly the tardis like this, its taking all the tardis's power just to hold this thing back"

he was right, my hair was damp with sweat and all the metal close by was burning red hot

"doctor what can we do, what do you need"

Amy gave a cry of surprise as the tires of my car burst and then melted, we moved even further away

"I can't stop it its going to burn the earth, if I just had, but there's nothing close, there isn't time"

Amy walked over and grabbed the phone

"doctor just tell us what you need"

"I need a second ship Amy, something to tow the tardis while it keeps the phoenix contained, but there's nothing nearby nothing i could use"

i turned to smile at Marcus he had the same grin on his face before he flipped open his scanner

"Aphelion this is Marcus, please tell me your close"

a reply came across and he smiled even wider

"excellent, don't wait for Mara to return just get down here, quick as you can"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

it took about five minutes for aphelion to return, Luke and I quickly took the controls and Aphelion rose off the ground

"OK Aphelion gravity clamps, connect to the tardis"

"I'm trying Marcus but all this heat is causing havoc with my navigation systems"

i turned to Amy and Rory

"OK you two those controls back there you can use them to manually aim the clamps"

"oh excellent I've been dying to try some of these buttons"

Rory looked a bit worried at the idea of Amy being in charge but he stood back and let her aim, the clamp fired and she hit the tardis dead on

"oh yes"

Luke looked impressed, and the doctor quickly appeared on Aphelion's monitors

"OK excellent now hurry up, I've sent you some coordinates, a nearby comet, big ball of ice perfect for the phoenix, but hurry up the time field is destabilising

aphelions engines burst into life and we rocketed towards the sky

"coordinates confirmed aphelion full power as fast as you can"

we pulled away from the earth as fast as we could manage, but it was hard going, aphelion wasn't really built for this

"umm you two I'm getting some strange readings from the gravity clamp"

Luke turned to look at the readings Rory was talking about

"Marcus he's right the cable is weakenking its going to break soon, Marcus are you listening"

i could barely hear him, something was burning screaming in my head

"Luke its the creature its trying to break free of the time field, I'm trying to talk to it to communicate, the tardis should be able to help, but somethings wrong it can't hear me or it won't listen, please listen to me I'm the doctor I can help"

ah my head, Luke was talking to the doctor on aphelions screens but the words were gone, replaced by fire

"of course it can't understand you, doctor you idiot, its just been born its a child, it probably hasn't even learnt how to speak yet, even i couldn't speak right away when i was born"

my hands slipped from the controls and I fell to the floor, Luke turned from his argument with the doctor to look at me

"Amy, Rory take the controls help keep aphelion on course, Marcus can you hear me whats wrong"

I could feel Luke somewhere close by

"words can't get through but I think I can"

Luke crouched next to me and I felt his fingertips press against my head

"let me help"

wordlessly I let him slip into my mind and the landscape before me fell into focus, space with stars burning in the sky and one in particular right in front of us

"Marcus things are falling apart outside we need to hurry"

i nodded my head and took a breath before speaking

"please, please just listen to me, i know whats its like, your alone abandoned, your mother brought you into this world, gave you life, but she isn't here, she's meant to protect you, meant to look after you, but she isn't there, i know what that's like, i know how it feels, we're alone and all you want to do is rage and be angry. the universe is unfair, so unfair, it deserves to hurt like you do, but you mustn't do that not now, we're friends, your only friends right now and we're trying to help, so please calm down give us time to find you somewhere safe"

the star in front of us seemed to shrink and the mental landscape dissolved around me, I woke up back inside aphelion

"I'm not sure what you two did but the time field is stabilised, the comet is close"

Luke left my side to help navigate

"right you lot, the phoenix is in position, now hold tight, cause there is going to be a bit of a bang"

I pulled myself up just in time to see the burst of light that signalled the birth of the phoenix, it was amazing, then we were all thrown to the floor as the shock wave hit us. after the it faded I took the controls again, the fire in my mind had faded

"excellent work, now Amy Rory, I'll meet you back on earth, I just have to set up a conservation beacon, it will attract the attention of the right people, they'll protect the phoenix"

I left the flying to aphelion, and let myself drift off to sleep

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I let Marcus sleep on the way back, channeling the phoenix must have been exhausting, once we landed aphelion took off again to go find Mara, we waved her off before turning back to the tardis

"you two were brilliant, absolutely incredible, oh I knew I made the right choice calling on you Luke Smith, and you Marcus I have met so many aliens but you are one of the best"

Marcus gave a half-hearted smile at the compliment, before we left there was something I needed to talk to the doctor about, if i was going to help Marcus i needed to deal with my issues first

"doctor, can I talk to you for a moment, in private"

he motioned wordlessly and we entered the tardis together leaving everyone else outside, it was different inside, but just as beautiful as I remember

"now then Luke smith what was it you wanted to talk to me about"

I'm not sure if I can tell him, but if anyone will understand

"doctor a while ago, i was taken by UNIT they used me to power a weapon and I, it destroyed ships hundreds of ships, thousands of aliens...and its all my fault!"

I felt like crying, tears were welling in my eyes, it was all my fault, but the doctor just looked me straight in the eyes

"oh Luke Smith, there is only one thing I can say to that, don't blame yourself, take it from someone who has done terrible things, oh i have done some terrible things in my time Luke, things like that weigh on you, so heavy they could crush you, but you don't deserve to feel like that Luke, it wasn't your fault"

"that's a good argument doctor and in my mind i know you're right, but it doesn't feel right, i feel like I should be..."

he walked up and put a comforting hand on my shoulder

"Luke Smith, you know what aliens called the events above earth when unit used their weapon, they called them the merciful storm, all that destruction, and you know what Luke, not a single life lost"

i looked him right in the eyes, not a hint of a lie

"but all those ships, i saw them, they were ripped apart"

"indeed complete write off the lot of them, but survivors of the storm spoke of a presence, a presence that guided them through the ship whispered to them kept them safe until they reached the escape pods or the transport relays, Luke smith you may feel responsible for the destruction of hundreds of ships, which you aren't, but what you are directly responsible for is saving the lives of over one-thousand aliens, an act of mercy that was felt across the stars, you truly are amazing, even more impressive when you consider you did it all subconsciously"

I really couldn't believe it I felt like crying again, but this time because i was happy

"thank you doctor"

"I'm glad I could help Luke"

he let me out of the tardis and we walked back to my car, mum was going to kill me when she saw what had happened to it the paint was melted and the tires burst, I got a few questioning looks, but nobody said a word

"you two are both brilliant you really are, now I'll keep an eye on the phoenix until the the conservationists get here, for you two I recommend food and sleep"

i looked down at myself and then at Marcus, we were both pretty filthy, soaked in sweat, I think before sleep a shower is in order

"yeah you two are pretty good for amateurs, course your more professional than him" Amy gave a flick of her head towards the doctor"so, that makes you pretty good at this job"

the doctor was about to poke fun at Rory before he realised Amy was talking about him

"yes well you can do this job for hundreds of years like me and you can never be much more than an amateur, but Amy's right Luke you are pretty good at this, almost as good as your mother, so I have a gift for you"

the doctor reached into his coat pockets and after a few seconds of searching pulled out a small device

"this is for you Luke a sonic pen, your sonic pen, I gave a sonic device to your mother so it only seems fair that you get one too, after all your an alien fighter in your own right now"

I took it, not entirely sure what to say, i pressed the button experimentally and a nearby street lamp blew up, making us all jump

"whoops yes you should have read the manual, there was a manual I'm sure I know its around here somewhere, oh unless I gave it to, ah yes never mind, you'll figure it out on your own soon enough, but if you meet a woman called Esmeralda ask her to summarise it for you"

I slipped it into my coat pocket, I couldn't keep myself from smiling

"ah yes as for your car, well I imagine you both have a lot to talk about, the walk back should give you the time you need to talk it out"

I crossed my arms, typical melts my car and then runs away and leaves us stuck

"alright doctor, I'm glad we could help"

I heard the gentle sound of the tardis engines before the doctors head popped out one more time

"oh and if Sarah-Jane calls, this was nothing to do with me"

he disappeared into the tardis Amy and Rory behind him, they both waved goodbye, I could still see something in Rory's eyes, like he'd seen more than he should of almost like the doctor, his eyes revealing his age, turning my back to the disappearing tardis I started the long walk home

"alright Marcus time to talk both of us" we had been walking in silence both of us for about ten minutes now he wasn't going to talk so I had to "so come on talk"

he looked aggravated I knew he didn't want to talk about his mother for the same reason i hadn't talked to him about UNIT and the weapon

"what do you want me to say Luke she's gone there's no point in me being angry at the world, it won't bring her back"

he almost looked like he was hoping I would prove him wrong

"I want you to talk that's all, it won't bring her back, but I got a chance to see inside your head again today and its a mess, you have all these emotions knotted up inside but you refuse to talk about them, and I think you need to"

he turned in a circle before rounding on me finger pointing straight at my face like he was getting angry, but before he could manage a word he let his arm drop to my shoulder and started crying

"she should be here, she's my mum, she should be here, just like the phoenix, I didn't have enough time with her, she didn't have time to explain the world to me, i'm lost in this big old universe and I still don't understand how it all works, what I'm supposed to do where I should go, i just don't know, I just don't know"

I pulled him close and let him cry into my shoulder, i'm not sure why I did it, it just felt like the right thing to do

"I think you already know the answer to that question, like you said to the phoenix, you have friends we might be your only friends in the universe but that doesn't matter, you just need to trust me let me help, i started off lost as well, but sarah-jane helped me, now I can help you"

he took a step backwards looked me in the eyes

"when did you get so wise Luke Smith"

I blushed a little it at that, i'd never really thought of myself as wise, after all I don't understand the world either

"i'm not sure but right now my wisdom is telling me I need a shower, and then food, and thenIi have to find someone who can fix my car"

he let a burst of laughter escape and we both started walking again

"thanks Luke, hey you know what would help cheer me up even more?"

I shot him a puzzled look

"if I could try out your sonic pen"

I couldn't stop myself laughing at that, he had the same child-like grin he wore whenever he was planning something mischevious, it made me laugh how he could be so mature and so childish at the same time, having no doubt in my mind that this was a bad idea i handed him the pen

"oh this is cool"

I let myself get a few steps ahead K-9 close behind me

"Master are you sure it is a good idea"

I heard a small bang behind me

"no K-9 i'm not, but he needs cheering up"

"Marcus's emotional state seems to have improved"

"affirmative K-9 sometimes, you just need to talk, best thing in the world"

another bang and Marcus fell into step next to us

"ok this thing is going to save a lot of time next time I lose my keys"

he handed me back my sonic pen and we kept walking in comfortable silence

"so then Luke what is it you need to talk about"

I shot him another puzzled look

"oh come off it, your hiding something at the back of your mind I can sense it"

I hadn't even noticed him brush past my mind

"i'm ok honest I talked to the doctor about it, about the weapon and Cutter, i'm fine honest"

he looked thoroughly unconvinced

"you, luke smith should know better than to try and lie to an empath"

"OK the weapon isn't the only thing on my mind OK, but the rest can wait for a while longer"

he took a few teasing pokes at the barriers in my mind

"alright but like you said, you need to talk about these things"

"and i will OK promise but not right now"

a shrug of his shoulder and we slipped back into silence, i want to tell him, but how, how would he react, what would he say, before I could worry anymore I felt a positive buzz of emotions from him, guess we're both still growing up, but at least everythings OK for now.


	3. Run's but doesn't walk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The game is afoot once more and deadlier than ever

it was a good morning, sun was shining, i'd eaten my favorite breakfast and i'm on my way to wake up Luke. I decided to go back to sleeping in my room, it was good to have company, but after Luke helped me come to terms with my little emotional meltdown, i decided to get out from under his feet. a few flights of stairs third door on the right and, oh that's not right. Luke's door was wide open

"Luke, K-9, anyone home"

a quick search of the room revealed nobody was there, if Luke had gone out he would've locked the door, and if he had taken K-9 it must have been something alien, but he would have called me if it was alien

"this is not good"

I took off through the hall and quickly realised i had no clue where i was going. i decided to slow down and think, pulling out my phone i selected his number, after a few rings he answered

"Luke, where the hell are you!"

I didn't mean to shout but he had made me worry

"I'm at my lecture, where else would I be"

OK maybe I had just made a mistake, but why is his door open

"OK wait there I'll come and meet you"

back down the stairs and out onto the quad, it took me a few minutes but I finally spotted Luke

"you shouted pretty loud on the phone are you alright Marcus?"

I felt like punching him

"of course I shouted I was worried, your door was wide open and you were nowhere to be found, I thought we were meeting up this morning?"

his face fell

"oops sorry I must have forgotten"

something is definitely no right

"alright come on then Luke"

I turned around and headed off in the direction of the science labs, he followed without question, once we found an empty lab I lead him through before shutting the door behind me

"Ok now listen to me very carefully, because i'm trying to be very calm right now, who are you and what have you done with Luke?"

he looked puzzled at that

"what are you talking about?, I'm Luke"

liar, without warning Ileapt forwards and caught his arm wrenching free the device on his wrist, pushing away from me the impostor struggled backwards, he was shorter than me with an unusually stout form

"how did you know?"

even as the alien spoke he tried to get around me, but whatever species he was it wasn't very strong

"one Luke doesn't forget ever, he just doesn't, two I'm an empath you can't hide from me, and three I don't know where your from but you don't half stink, now where is Luke!"

the alien took another few steps back through the lab subconciously pulling at the metallic collar around his neck

"it is a test she said it must be a test, always a test, test mind and test body, I'm sorry"

the creature was panicking eyes darting around the room, he had brought his hands up infront of his face like it thought I was going to hit him

"what test where is Luke?"

I tried to stay calm, if i keep scaring this guy I'll never get answers

"the boy and the dog yes they face the test of body, they must run, yes run and hide, or it will get them"

I had visions of Luke and K-9 being hunted down somewhere

"where is Luke tell me?"

the alien had become a frenzy of nervous movement now, I'm not sure if it was scared of me or something else

"she says you must follow that which runs but doesn't walk and has a mouth that doesn't talk, follow the clues it will lead you"

"I don't have time for riddles, now tell me where he is"

I knew the alien could see through my perception filter, and I let my anger show on my face and in my eyes

"you are a child of solaris" he instantly broke down into hysterical weeping "we caused you so much pain and then the fire it burnt oh so bright, they burned, my planet burned everybody burned and all the pain of your world was for nothing, please forgive us"

more riddles, i'll uncover that later

"please child of solaris, I cannot do much but I owe you this the answer to your clue is..."

before he could finish speaking the collar around his neck activated and he was electrocuted, after a brief moment of writhing movement he was dead. i gently closed his eyes, whatever this creature was he wasn't evil, just scared, if only he had told me where Luke was. I left the labs quickly and flipped open my scanner trying to find any trace of Luke and K-9

"nothing, no sign, where are they?"

I ran over everything the alien had said in my head. runs but never walks and a mouth that never talks, if this was a test then it must be a test of the mind, but Idon't know the answer dammit this should be Luke's test. i walked out of the campus, stretching my mind out as far as i could maybe if i cover enough ground i can find him. i searched this way for half an hour with no luck, i don't think I'm meant to find him, not without solving the clue first

"what the hell is the answer!"

i racked my brains trying to come up with something

"hey River, River wait up"

an oddly familiar man ran past, the woman in question turned to greet him and for a brief second looked me right in the eye

"river...of course a river!, it runs but doesn't walk and it has a mouth, the Thames he'll be at the mouth of the Thames"

the two people watched my little outburst of excitement with amusement before wandering off. pulling out my scanner once more. I pointed myself in the right direction and ran towards my destination where hopefully I'll find Luke

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

oh my head, Marcus came to wake me up this morning as expected, but the second I turned my back he hit me

"master Luke are you awake?"

at least K-9 was here

"yeah K-9 I'm awake where are we?"

I took a brief look around, wherever we are its damp, cold, dark and most likely underground

"I have been unable to ascertain our location master"

this place reminded me too much of where we first found the truncle

"OK K-9 do you know how we can get out of here?"

he turned in a circle for a moment

"negative master Luke suggest you pick a direction"

OK I was in a fairly narrow passage, extending as far as I can see in either direction

"OK well lets go this way then"

K-9 followed close behind, I was glad he was here, I felt a familiar sensation of claustrophobia and he was the only thing keeping my panic from sweeping me away. after approximately ten minutes K-9 came to a sudden stop behind me

"Master Luke life form ahead"

that lifted my spirits, maybe it was someone who could show me the way out

"that's good, what kind of life form?"

a guttural roar answered my question

"suggest you engage running mode master"

he didn't have to tell me twice turning away from the sound I headed back up the passage K-9 following behind me

"Master Luke life form is gaining ground suggest you find a hiding place quickly"

I looked around the corridor, there wasn't much to go on, but a glint of metal caught my eye, it was a door handle, quickly pulling it open I ran through followed by K-9, the door was barely closed when the creature barreled past, it felt like an earthquake

"K-9 what was that?"

"life form is a truncle, although it is a lot larger than the one we encountered previously, I'm afraid my laser would be ineffective"

of course it is. well we're hidden for the moment although I'm not sure where, my guess was a supply room of some kind, although it was entirely empty, except for a small circle of metal set into the roof and various lengths of pipes against the walls

"K-9 do you know what that is?"

he never got a chance to answer the circle slid open and water began pouring in

"that isn't good"

I tried to open the door but it was stuck I reached for my left pocket to retrieve my sonic pen and pointed it at the lock, but after pressing the button, nothing happened and the door was stuck fast.

"K-9 why isn't it working?"

"the door is deadlocked master Luke sonic device will be ineffecti..."

the rest of his sentence was lost as he was completely submerged, I had to get the door open, I gave the door a few experimental kicks but it wouldn't budge. the water was still pouring in, reaching up as high as my waist. pulling my way to the other side of the room I grabbed one of the lengths of pipe and jammed it into the door, pushing as hard as I could. the door began to move ever so slightly

"come on!"

the hole in the roof opened even wider and the stream of water knocked me below the surface, I fought my way back up and realised I couldn't even touch the ground. taking a breath I dived under the water and found the pipe still wedged firmly against the door. I threw all my weight behind it. the door creaked. air I need air. a crack in the wood. can't breathe. the door exploded outwards with a stream of water and I was washed back out into the passageway. I took a few shaky breaths, I was alive, barely

"master Luke are you alright?"

I nodded to let him know I was still alive, and after a few minutes dragged myself up

"K-9 look at the water its flowing that way, towards the creature, that means that, this way is up and hopefully out"

without really waiting for a response I started walking. I really want to get out of this place. I still couldn't see very far up the passage, but the air was less stale, less stagnant

"master Luke the creature it has changed direction it is coming back towards us"

I broke into a run I was trying to move as quickly as I could but my clothes were soaked and weighing me down. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, a final burst of energy and I found the source of the light an access tunnel that ended twenty feet, straight up. I could hear an earthquake approaching behind me, it was getting closer

"Luke, Luke are you down there?"

I looked up to find the source of the voice, I could just about make out Marcus standing at the top of the shaft

"Marcus the truncle's down here and its getting closer"

I looked around, there wasn't anything around here I could use to climb, I turned to see the approaching creature, the truncle only it was a lot bigger than I remember it reared up to strike before stopping in place

"luke I can hold it back for a few minutes you need to find a way out of here"

I wanted nothing more than to panic, but I pushed it out of my mind, reaching into my pockets I came across my sonic pen

"that's it, K-9 you have a hover mode correct?"

"yes master Luke"

I pulled out my pen and got to work

"master what are you doing?"

"I'm increasing the effectiveness of your hover mode, if this works you'll be able to take us both up"

a few changed wires and K-9 started floating up into the air, I grabbed hold and we both floated upwards. a howl from below told me Marcus had lost control of the truncle and the walls started shaking. I didn't dare look down. just concentrating on keeping my grip. I felt myself slipping my hands were slick with sweat. almost there. I could see Marcus. and then I slipped. before I could fall I felt a strong grip around my arms and he lifted me onto the ledge

"I got you, you're alright"

we both took a few steps away from the edge and then collapsed against the wall. he sat between me and the shaft where the truncle was still lurking and let me rest against his shoulder I didn't want to move, nothing had been like it should today I thought if i moved that the world would shatter again and I'd be thrown into another fight for my life. I thought I might start crying but after all the trouble of today I was just too tired

"somebody is messing with us, the alien that took you and tried to trick me, he was a puppet, part of these crazy games just like us, someone or something is waiting behind the scenes pulling the strings"

as if to reinforce the point an all to familiar beam of light engulfed the truncle, when the light faded the truncle was gone

"i'm sorry it took me so long to get here Luke"

he had turned his head slightly to look at me, his face was full of concern

"don't be daft, if you hadn't got there when you did I would have died down there"

his concern lifted for a second

"why are you all wet, what else happened down there?"

I was still soaked to my skin, and it was starting to get cold

"I fell into a trap, whoever set this up tried to drown me"

i hid my head in my arms, everything flashed before my eyes, for the second time in my life i wished i could forget

"come one lets get you out of here"

he tried to pull me to my feet, but my legs were shaking and I just collapsed back against the wall

"here maybe this will help"

he gently placed his fingers against the side of my head and I felt strength flow through my mind, heat and warmth surgin through me. But when he reached the back of my mind, the barriers that should be there were gone, and all the emotions hidden inside flowed out. For a moment I couldn't focus and just let myself get swept away in the feeling of kissing him it felt amazing, but as quickly as this feeling came it subsided and two strong hands put distance between us. I looked him in the eyes and his face was full of shock and surprise. I tried to open my mouth to explain but a quick raise of his hand stopped me

"uh, come on, we need to get you out of here, won't do any good you catching a cold on top of everything else that's happened today"

I took his hand and let myself be lead outside into the fresh air, I thought about making another attmept to speak to him but the look on his face told me now was not the time. once back at the university he helped me get dry and made some tea, I knew I could do with a hot drink, but once I was tucked up in bed the weariness that had built up over the course of the day took hold and I fell asleep, grateful, not for the first time, that I was unable to dream


	4. Martha and Maria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if Marcus thought he'd seen the worst and most terrifying beings the universe could throw at him he was sadly mistaken

it was the latest in a series of days where i woke up and just didn't have the energy to face the morning. in my head i kept telling myself that i was still exhausted after my latest escape from the truncle. but the rest of me new different, Marcus just hasn't been the same since i kissed him. he hangs around, makes sure I'm alright listens if i need to speak about what happened underground, but beyond that he seems to be doing his best to avoid me. he must be angry, i can hardly blame him, i feel so stupid. after a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself i got out of bed, i knew K-9 would make good on his promise to call my mum if i stayed in bed all day.

"Master Luke, Master Luke, someone is at the door"

i was half way through getting ready for the day and sort of spaced out, that's weird never happened before, stepping over K-9 i opened the door and came face to face with none other than Maria Jackson

"you know Luke you should've learnt by now that it isn't good to keep a woman waiting"

she had the same smile as me lighting up her face, i did the first thing that came to mind and pulled her into a hug, it was only then that i noticed someone else standing behind her

"Maria! what are you doing here, and who's your friend?"

i took a step from Maria and took a closer look at the woman behind her

"I'm Martha, Martha Smith, we met over the sub-wave network, i imagine i look a bit different than the last time you saw me"

my mind seemed to click into place

"oh of course Martha, sorry i didn't recognise you"

of course its Martha, why did it take me so long to recognise her

"Maria helped out at UNIT for a bit before i left, we decided to meet up and have a day around the shops while she's visiting"

i wanted to be happy i really did but Marcus was still on my mind

"are you alright Luke, you look upset"

Maria could read my emotions almost as well as Marcus

"yeah I'm fine just some stuff going on between me and my friend Marcus"

she looked unconvinced why do i even bother trying to hide stuff from her

"do you want to talk about it"

i really did, but another part of me didn't want to spoil Maria's time here, but she spotted by hesitation and decided for me

"come on we'll go grab some breakfast somewhere and then sit down and talk, you finish getting ready and we'll meet you downstairs"

i looked down and realised i was only halfway through getting dressed, Maria and Martha pretended not to notice the blush on my face and walked off. once i was ready i met them downstairs and once we had found somewhere to get breakfast, we all sat down

"so come on then Luke whats bugging you, you and Marcus are really close it would have to be something pretty big"

we were close and i think that's part of the problem

"i got caught in a trap, not sure who by yet, anyway i escaped with Marcus's help and everything turned out OK, except when Marcus reached out with his mind he was trying to help, make me feel less afraid until i was ready to deal with what happened, but there was something, something i usually keep locked in the back of my mind but i was tired and the barriers were gone and then he found it and i..."

Maria reached out to put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, urging me wordlessly to continue

"i kissed him Maria"

whatever she was expecting that wasn't it, even Martha looked surprised

"oh wow Luke, just wow"

she seemed happy that was good

"but i don't think i should've, cause now he is avoiding me"

her face was full of sympathy, she knew better than anyone how hard this is for me

"what do i do Maria, i didn't mean to, at least not right then, and he looked so upset, almost like he was angry"

she gave me one of her patented maria looks trying to reassure me

"Luke calm down, i know your worried, i can help, but first i need you to answer a question, do you like Marcus?"

the question seemed so simple, but i had never thought to ask myself

"yes i do, i mean i wasn't sure at first, i thought we were just friends the same way i felt about you, Clyde and Rani, but after a while it felt different, good different, i sort of figured it out from there"

Maria and Martha were both smiling, i think i said what they were expecting

"alright then Luke Smith, leave this with me and Maria, we'll talk to this guy of yours"

I had only met Martha once and not in person, i can see why the doctor chose her as a companion, she wasn't afraid to take command

"Martha's right, go back to your room Luke he'll meet you there"

i turned and walked back to the university, Maria would help me fix things she always does. as i turned to leave i didn't hear the conversation between the two of them

"I'm sorry Maria"

"its OK Martha i guess its not all bad, at least i didn't lose him to another woman"

"yeah that's true, right lets go and find Marcus"

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"hey Marcus wait"

the voice belonged to Maria

"oh hey Maria, i didn't realise you were visiting if you're looking for Lu..."

she cut me off before i could even finish with a sharp poke in the chest

"ow what the he..."

one raised hand from the woman behind Maria told me i should probably keep quiet

"you are an alien Marcus, and you have hurt one of my best friends, most aliens that do that get a one way ticket off of the planet!"

Sarah-Jane trained her well

"now tell me why have you been avoiding Luke, and don't try and deny it we know you ha..."

i held up my hands as a sign of surrender, it silenced Maria and gave me a moment to speak

"I'm not going to deny it Maria, i have been avoiding Luke" twinned looks of outrage appeared on their faces "but!, not for the reasons you think"

this earned me a brief reprieve, Maria's hand had been raising to hit me but she let it fall down to her side

"OK look i think we should all sit down and talk, I'm Martha by the way, clearly there's more to this than we thought Maria"

sighing in relief i lead them to a small cafe, we grabbed a table and ordered some drinks

"alright now Marcus come on what don't we know?"

I'm glad Martha had taken charge, i didn't fancy another shouting match with Maria, she would win

"i have been avoiding Luke, but not because i don't want to talk to him, or because I'm angry at what he did" that just earned me a skeptical eyebrow from Maria "look Maria when i entered Luke's mind i came across those emotions by accident, normally Luke has them sealed up tight, when i found them they overwhelmed me, i mean completely"

i sensed something from Martha, she knew that feeling

"so what is that such a bad thing, i know it happened by accident, but is it really such a big problem if you and Luke kissed"

she had hit the nail on the head

"it is a problem if i didn't mean to kiss him back, you may think otherwise but i don't want to hurt Luke. i can't just go jumping into something like this only to realise that, oh whoops sorry guess i don't love you after all, he deserves better than that"

Maria finally seemed to have simmered down, blimey if she was a solaran, her hair would be redder than a traffic light

"so, i don't know much about you, but i gather your alien, and you can sense people's emotions, and you've been avoiding Luke so you can what, separate out his feelings from yours, but you must have been feeling something before now, and is it really so hard to separate out your emotions from Luke's"

oh if only she knew

"Martha emotions like that don't just go away if you ignore them, they get stronger, and Luke's been hiding these feelings from me for a while now, you have no idea how hard it is trying to pick out my emotions from his, especially when i have the rest of you noisy humans chattering away in my head, and you're right i have been feeling something before today, but i have to be certain, the two of us have been close for a while, i find it hard separating his emotions from mine at the best of times"

that seemed to satisfy Martha, but i could still sense Maria boiling away in the background

"OK but if that's the case why didn't you tell Luke this stuff, at the minute he's sat in his room all confused and upset, because he thinks you're angry with him, or he did something wrong, Luke doesn't understand any of this, its all new and you're making it even harder for him"

no wonder they're so angry at me

"I'm sorry Maria, but i don't understand this situation anymore than he does"

there's that look again, i don't understand how humans can be so cynical

"what you're going to tell me in the twenty odd years you've been alive that you've neve..."

damn she makes me angry

"no Maria i haven't because for half of my life now I've been on the run from a war that ripped apart my entire world!"my shouting caught the attention of everyone sat close by and i quickly lowered my voice, and when i finally found somewhere safe i was surrounded by strange aliens that i didn't fully understand, and before that i was ten and the idea of kissing someone male or female was gross, you all seem to assume that i know what I'm doing, that i understand what affect my actions are having , but with this stuff I'm just as clueless as Luke"

finally she calms down

"and here was me hoping for a nice relaxing day out shopping with you Maria, still i think I understand why you've been avoiding Luke, but you need to explain it to him tell him this, he'll understand, and then he can stop worrying"

humans, other species insult their intelligence, but they really are very clever

"alright I'm gonna go find him OK, thanks for the help, glad to know you're still looking out for him"

i turned and took off at a quick pace to go and find Luke leaving Maria and Martha behind

"well what do you think then Maria, are those two gonna be OK"

maria turned to look at Martha

"of course they are, it doesn't take much to see that Marcus shares the same feelings, we've just got to wait for him to realise"

Martha grinned before turning around and heading towards the shops

"come on then, Mickey's away hunting a slorvak, lets make the most of my time off, i feel like shopping, and maybe meeting up with my sister, have a bit of a gossip, its a shame Luke made us promise not to tell anyone cause those two are adorable together, a very gossip worthy topic"

they both broke into fits of giggles and disappeared into the city centre

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i heard a knock on my door and could feel something buzzing at the edge of my mind, it must be him

"come in"

Marcus entered he looked like he was trying his best to keep a calm expression

"OK before i say what i need to say Luke, was sicking Martha and Maria on me really neccessary, those two together, well i think I'd rather face another truncle"

i let a half smile flicker across my face, may have been a bit extreme asking both of them for help

"right mandatory ice-breaking joke out of the way...I'm sorry Luke, they told me what's what and i didn't realise how upset you were by the way i reacted"

he did look sorry but i didn't want to get my hopes up

"so right, i have been avoiding you, but not because i don't want to see you, i just..." he let out a long breath "i just need some time OK i want to make sure that what I'm feeling isn't getting mixed up with what i sensed inside your head"

he made a few more attempts to talk, but i think he had got his point across

"so you're not angry with me then?"

his face lit up with surprise when i spoke

"no of course not Luke, never, just surprised"

i smiled and he visibly relaxed

"I'm sorry too, i didn't mean for everything to happen quite the way it did"

he held my gaze for a few seconds before we both started laughing

"hopeless the pair of us, still I'm impressed a whole day with Martha and Maria here and we didn't have one alien to deal with"

his laughter quickly gave way when he saw my face

"umm not quite, i just got a message from the doctor we have work to do"

he rolled his eyes and grabbed his jacket

"what did he do this time?"

i quickly put my keys and my pen into my pocket before following him out the door

"there's an intergalactic game of hide and seek going on as part of the birthday celebrations of the crowned prince of Kolimboe, and one of the hiding places is earth"

he turned to face me arms folded, clearly thinking i was making it up

"I'm serious, we're going to meet up with the prince and make sure nobody realises he's an alien"

that seemed to convince him at least a little bit

"so what we have to babysit some royal pain in the butt, while he plays hide and seek, all the while making sure the ever watchful UNIT doesn't realise he's alien, why didn't the doctor just tell them no?"

"because if the prince gets upset he will convince his father to incinerate our world for being rude, part of his species laws of etiquette, which is also why we have to help him win, a temper tantrum on his birthday might yield the same results"

he threw his hands up in defeat and continued walking down the corridor

"OK but spoilt brats aside, we're OK yeah?"

he had turned to look at me, straight at me, i could feel a familiar sensation in my chest

"yeah we're good, even if things don't work out the way i hope, we'll still be good"

he held his gaze for a few moments longer before turning around

"so how are we going to disguise this kid anyway, I mean an alien walking around playing hide and seek, people are going to notice, why couldn't he have been the one hiding, would've made life so much easier"

"oh i thought about that, i borrowed a costume from Mitch, he's been doing some promotional work for the local cinema, we can tell the prince its part of the game"

"they'll work, what kind of costume is it"

i was worried he was going to ask that

"umm its a smurf costume"

"you're kidding Luke, no way i am not walking around next to a giant smurf all day, i mean seriously teeny tiny blue people who came up with that"

his complaints continued all the way to the car, i didn't dare to tell him that we'd have to dress up as part of the game. i didn't mind so much, i was going to be brainy smurf, and I'm sure he'll enjoy himself once we're in costume.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"second round of games complete mistress"

"excellent bring me up the finalists on screen"

a holographic display appeared on the screen, showing Marcus and Luke

"these two survived the tests of mind and body, they even managed to prevent the destruction of their world at the hands of the phoenix"

a sinister smile crept across the woman's lips

"oh Sarah-Jane i new these two were going to be good but, i never imagined them surviving this long, time for the final round i wonder who will be the one to win the final prize, this is going to be fun"


	5. You Hear Him Whne You're Sleeping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Game On

"oh my head, Luke what did you put in my drink"

over to my left i heard the same sounds of displeasure, it felt like we had been teleported, and after taking a deep breath i realised it smelled like we'd been teleported by a barely functioning teleport relay, a combination of singed hair and the smoking plants around us

"what happened, did the prince do that?"

possible, we were seeing the little brat off after a week long game of hide and seek, we might have got caught up in the teleport relay, but something didn't feel right

"i'm not sure, its possible, but i have my doubts, besides kolimboe teleport relays are state of the art, no way one would cause this kind of damage"

we both looked around at our burnt surroundings

"and you know what, i figured out whats wrong, my scanner right before we were taken it alerted me to an energy trace, the same one that keeps popping up all over the place, dammit, where is that thing"

i searched my pockets but came up empty

"yes you won't find your scanner boy, i decided it gave you an unfair advantage, so it was confiscated"

we both looked up, as the opaque circle of glass set into the wall cleared and left us looking at our kidnapper

"you know you should be honoured, so many have participated in the games over the years, but you are the first to meet face to face with me"

i didn't recognise her face, but there was something about her voice

"who are you, and why have you taken us?"

i could feel Luke bristling with the same anger that burned inside me

"me, well i abandoned my real name years ago, but you may call me the game master, as for why i brought you here, well that's simple, you are the finalists of my game"

i felt my blood run cold, now i know that voice

"Luke this is bad, i know who she is, first time i tried sneaking away from the palace i wound up in a bar, they had this black-space broadcast on, i never saw her face, but that voice presided over every bloody spectacle that appeared throughout the broadcast"

i saw a glimmer of pride pass over the game masters face

"ah you do know me, good, yes this little empire of mine is truly quite popular, normal society deplores violence, but those same simpletons are chomping at the bit to watch contestants in my game get ripped apart, and I'm more than happy to indulge them"

and we're part of her games

"so this is what you do, kidnap unwilling victims to be part of your games, for profit, and fun, you sick twisted old bat!"

Luke's voice was filled with venom, I'd never seen him like this, but i approved

"a lot of profit and even more fun yes, now that we are all properly acquainted, its time to get down to business, you two have made it through every trial i have thrown at you, and i am truly very impressed, but unfortunately there can be only one survivor of my games, or none but never more than one" a dangerous smile flashed across her face, i almost expected fangs "so this is the game gentlemen, at the end of this complex is a door, through that door is your freedom, no strings attached,  
however that door will only open when one of the collars around your kneck stops transmitting, and that only happens when one of you dies"

she stressed the last word, and in her eyes i could see a gleam of genuine joy

"your insane"

it was the first words i could think of, but i think evil would have been more appropriate

"perhaps, but I'm not completely without mercy, i have left you a playmate in the arena, he is quite happy to kill both of you, that way you won't have to kill each other"

something tells me our playmate wouldn't have any scruples about killing both of us, instead of just the one required to open the door

"now off you trot, the games no fun if you don't play"

with that the circle of glass became dark again

"what should we do?"

it was a simple question but i was struggling to find the answer

"for now, lets try and find this door, see if we can get it open another way"

it seemed like a sound plan. we both walked off, ears alert for the sound of our 'playmate', this woman had access to some of the foulest aliens in the known universe it could be anything

"what do you think is in here?"

he had voiced my concerns, out loud, i decided that we should try and narrow down the list while we walked

"i don't know, lets see, we're in an oxygenated environment, so that narrows it down slightly"

he was thoughtful for a second

"she said it would kill us so its probably a predator, of some kind, possibly carnivorous"

that narrows it down, but not by much. we bounced ideas back and forth for a few more minutes until i felt a strange buzzing at the back of my mind

"Luke can you hear that?"

before he had a chance to respond the buzzing escalated to a roar and i collapsed, pain ripping through my mind

"Marcus whats wrong"

that sound, I've only heard it once before

"lukethis is bad, its a Shriek"

i put my arm around his shoulders and he helped me up

"whats a Shriek?"

trouble

"they're a sentient race, hunters by nature, they were hired by the alliance during the war on Solaris hired because they are the ultimate weapon against lifeforms with psychic abilities"

i almost collapsed as another wave of sound burst through my mind

"the shriek that they're named for is a perfect weapon against me, its crippling to anyone with similar abilities, not only that they can echo-locate with it, like bats, there ears are sharp, they can pick out even the smallest breath in a building surrounded by noise"

i felt my legs stumble, the affects are even worse than before

"Luke this is really bad!"

i didn't hear his response as another wave of sound drowned it out

"Marcus can you hear me"

i tried to drag my mind closer to him but it was useless as i passed out

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

it took me a while to bring Marcus round, hopefully the creatures shriek was ineffective while the target is unconscious, he let a moan of pain escape his lips, and i slowly helped him sit up

"all the fun of a hangover, without any of the actual drinking"

i let a smile pass over my face, even now he can make jokes

"come on we need to keep moving"

i half carried half dragged Marcus along as we tried our best to escape the alien that was chasing us, he was doing his best to walk on his own, but every burst of sound from the Shriek left him writhing in pain. i felt him tense beside me and we both collapsed to the ground

"Luke just go, if one of us dies the door will open and you'll be free, that's how this game is supposed to work"

he was right, but i can't let that happen

"no chance we're both getting out of here"

he looked ready to argue again so i covered his mouth with my hand

"no!, you know how i feel, it's not fair to ask me to leave you behind, if you die..."

I let the sentence hang in the air, after a few seconds he pulled my hand away

"alright then, how are we getting out of here?"

good question, but i had a plan taking shape in my head

"this game master is smart, but she's made several crucial mistakes since we got here, one she didn't take away my sonic pen, two she left the two of us together and three when she was gloating about this clever little game of hers she left a monitor up behind her, a monitor showing the exact position of us and the Shriek on a detailed map of the base, my guess it was there to let her keep track of the game"

his face was tired but i saw a familiar glimmer of hope in his eyes

"and it just so happens that there is another way of this ship"

i just hope it works

"alright then Luke, lead the way"

i helped him get up

"there's just one problem i memorised the map and if I'm right, the Shriek is between us and the way out"

we were going to have to elude one of the universe's best hunters

"well i trust you Luke, if you think this plan will work then lets do it"

letting him put one arm over my shoulder i turned us in the right direction and we started walking. Marcus kept feeling the effects of the aliens sound, every time it happened a small whimper of pain would escape him. after about ten minutes of walking i heard a sound ahead of us and we both took cover in the plant life that was spread throughout the arena

"i can hear you humans, i know you're close, i can hear your frantic hearts, oh such a sweet sound. come out and play, if i have to come and get you i won't be pleased"

i finally had a chance to get a decent look at the creature, it was easily eight feet tall and despite how thin its limbs appeared to be, i knew it was incredibly strong. a deep black cloak matched the colour of its skin, i could see its claws, retracted just out of sight

"very well if you don't want to tell me I'll have to make you"

i saw it take a deep breath, now was my chance. pointing my sonic pen straight at the creature i hit the button and a wave of sound mixed with the high-pitched shriek of the creature, it was too much i almost passed out, the two sounds mixed together creating an incredible barrage of noise. the Shriek was in even more pain than me, the highly sensitive sense of hearing it was using to track us was crippling it. once the sound faded I helped Marcus of the ground and we both ran, as fast as we could. after a few seconds we came to a split in the path

"which way?"

I reached for the information, but it wasn't there

"come one Luke it will be back on its feet soon, we need to move

i tried to remember, the map the twists and the turns, but something was wrong

"i don't remember, Marcus I can't its just not there"

he looked almost as scared as I was by my words, this is impossible I should be able to remember, I always remember

"alright lets not panic" a distant roar of displeasure told us the Shriek was back on its feet"OK maybe a little panic, Luke just pick one, hoepfully you'll know the right way subconciously"

i tried to ignore the panic in my mind and looked at the two paths in front of me

"OK this way"

i didn't leave myself time to doubt, i just ran up the passageway as quickly as i could with Marcus right behind me. i could hear the Shriek gaining distance behind us , but it was being careful, not using the high-pitched weapon for which it was named in case i interfered again. a few more metres and i found what we were looking for

"alright this is it"

we were at a dead end

"Luke are you sure it looks lik..."

he never got to finish his answer as a strong hand gripped his throat and lifted him into the air. i could see him struggling against the aliens grip

"No!"

my shout caught the creatures attention and it brought a clawed hand through the air and sliced into my shoulder

"i win, ha, me the greatest hunter in the universe, almost unfair pitting sniveling infants against me"

mum would never have been impressed with his bragging, and neither should i, his pride gives me one last weapon to use against him

"oh yeah real impressive, you managed to hunt down a couple of defenseless kids from a level 5 planet, please, even the hunters on earth are more skilled than you"

it worked, he took a few angry steps toward me, come on we're so close, i just need him to bring Marcus, a few feet closer

"how dare you boy!"

his anger was clear in his voice, I'd definitely pushed the right buttons

"well come on then you haven't caught me yet, one little human trapped in a dead end, I'm sure even you can manage that"

i backed away from him slowly, one step, two steps i felt my back against the wall

"now you die puny human"

i reached for my pen, i hope this works, before the creatures claws could come down I pointed my pen at the wall behind me, the sound passed through the walls that had us trapped, and heard to my relief the teleport relay whir into life, i closed my eyes and when I opened them again I was on the floor next to Marcus, after checking to make sure he was alright i sat back and waited for him to wake up, after a minute his eyes slowly opened

"not bad Luke Smith, not bad at all"

he smiled for a moment before the details of our escape came rushing back to him

"Luke something is wrong"

the same concerns were brought to the front of my mind,

"i know, and i don't think this is the first time it happened, i didn't recognise Martha when i met her with Maria, and then i keep forgetting where i parked my car,  
whats happening?"

the last of the adrenaline was leaving my system and i felt like i couldn't move

"i don't know Luke, but we need to get you back to K-9 he can scan you, see whats wrong, we'll call sarah-Jane on the way"

i stood up, apparently too fast because my vision blurred and the world went dark around me. the last things i heard was marcus's frantic voice


	6. The Final Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the games

"K-9 wake up, K-9 we need you" K-9 quickly trundled out from under Luke's desk "K-9 something is happening to luke, I haven't been able to wake him up"

I put Luke down on his bed, then slipped his shirt over his head so I could bandage up the cut on his shoulder

"K-9 anything!"

i'd manage to get him patched up, but his injuries weren't the real problem

"Marcus, symptoms of mental degradation, Luke's mind is unravelling"

I looked down at Luke, how could this have happened

"what can we do, there must be something?"

I tried to think of anything that could have caused this

"I don't know what to do Marcus, even if we knew the cause of the degradation, there is nothing we can do to reverse the effects"

this can't be right

"I need to call Sarah-Jane, get her and Mr Smith involved, they might no something that we don't"

I flipped open my phone and called Sarah-Jane. her panic was understandable but she pushed it all aside and asked for all the data K-9 had

"Okay Marcus, Mr Smith will contact me if he finds anything, i'll get Clyde and Rani, we'll be there in a few hours"

I closed my phone, now Sarah-Jane was involved I had calmed down a bit, taking a breath I turned back to Luke

"K-9 any change"

K-9's light flashed as he made his scan

"Luke's mind is still destabilising"

I reached out to his mind and K-9 was right the emotions tied to his memories were fading little by little

"Marcus whats happening"

I hadn't expected Luke to wake up

"hey Luke its OK we're in your room, me and K-9 are working on a way to help you"

I sat down beside him on his bed

"am i gonna be alright"

what can i say to that

"umm yeah, K-9 and Mr Smith are on it, i'm sure the two of them will figure something out"

he turned his head to look at me

"I'm not gonna be alright am I"

time rolled by, minute by minute, I sat there for a moment just cradling him in my arms, never before this had I felt so hopeless, even alone on Solaris I had some small spark of hope, but this. there's no alien mastermind, no sinister plot, no insane scheme but despite all that I'm still losing Luke and there isn't anything I can do to stop it

"Marcus!"

I quickly took his hand in mine trying to reassure him in anyway i could

"its OK I'm here, I'm right here"

"I don't want to die"

before he could manage anymore he burst into tears I held him as tight as I could hoping, praying that something would happen, something to change his fate

"don't worry OK I'm gonna be right here, i won't leave you alone"

his memory must be fading fast, in a few minutes he won't even remember me, I held tight for a few more minutes and the crying stopped, I looked down and Luke'seyes were closed it looked like he could have been asleep, except i knew better, he doesn't remember me, soon he won't even remember how to breathe

"goodbye"

I laid his head down to rest and slowly left the room, once outside I broke down, let my misery drag me down until the world was nothing but a bleak barren landscape to my eyes. a few seconds later Sarah-Jane came running up followed swiftly by Rani and Clyde. they all took one look at me and in that second they new, and the same despair washed over them

"I'm sorry Sarah-Jane, you're too late"

Sarah-Jane gently pushed open his door and gazed on the sleeping form of her son

"I always feared this, from the moment I met him, I always worried, that the Bane didn't make him to last, but after the doctor came, I thought we were safe, I thought he was safe"

Rani had started crying as well and Clyde held her trying not to cry himself

"this is all my fault, I should have seen this coming"

Sarah-Jane turned to me, despite the sadness I could sense from her she still wanted to help me

"Marcus this isn't your fault, none of us could have seen this coming"

she's wrong

"no you don't understand, there have been signs I just didn't notice them"

Rani had stopped crying, they were all staring at me

"Luke's been forgetting things, just small stuff for a while now, i didn't really put it together, but ever since i rescued him from Cutter, ugh I'm so stupid if I'd noticed, if I hadn't been so busy worrying about..."

if I hadn't been so busy worrying about my feelings towards him, I should have been honest with him, shouldn't have hidden behind that lame excuse about my abilities, I didn't tell him, and now he'll never know"

"Marcus please calm down, tell me again, everything that happened, maybe you missed something, anything"

her last desperate plea shook me out of my despair

"right!, Luke's mind is unravelling, he's forgetting everything, even how to breathe, we thought it might have been something the game master did, but he's been forgetting stuff since before then, his keys, where he parked his car, it even took him a while to recognise Martha. we both thought that maybe it was something to do with the way the Bane made him, but neither you nor the doctor noticed anything wrong, even Mr Smith didn't see anything, so it can't be that, the only thing left that could explain it is MITRE"

putting that much strain on a human brain however unique, must have been too much

"I agree, but you said his symptoms increased dramatically during the final rounds of the game, are you sure you didn't come into contact with anything that could have caused this, what about the alien, the Shriek, could it have done this"

I thought about everything I knew about the Shriek

"no, there's just no way, the Shriek wouldn't affect Luke...except, his shoulder, he was cut by the Shriek, K-9 can you do a chemical analysis"

K-9 quickly trundled forwards, this has to work, it has to

"no trace Marcus"

I felt myself fall into despair, but something left me teetering on the edge

"K-9 what about on Luke's shirt"

we both turned to the discarded shirt on the floor, it was one of Luke's favourites

"trace confirmed, chemical most commonly known as psychonite poison"

there it is, in the faces of all of us, the spark of hope

"what is psychonite poison K-9, is there an antidote"

i cut K-9 off, we were so close

"no there isn't, but I think with all of us here..."

I felt the familiar tingling all over my body, I closed me eyes against the teleport glare and when I opened them, I was in a room alone with the game master

"oh I don't think so, clever boy I never expected you to figure that out"

I'll burn her, rip her head off

"send me back to earth now!"

I felt my anger boil inside me, soon it would burn through her mind

"or what you'll kill me, oh i don't think so"

smug old cow

"you don't think I could, or would!"

she's too calm, why did she let me this close

"oh I know you have the ability, and I made sure you have the motive, but you won't kill me, the teleports are bio-locked only I can activate them, and if I were to die"

she let her sentence trail off, if she died i was stuck and Luke would die, and it would be my fault

"why are you doing this?"

I saw something flicker behind her eyes, it wasn't fear, but it was close

"simple, one of you had to die, that was the rule of my game, and in about ten minutes one of you will be dead, I simply took advantage of Luke's weakened mind and my clever little poison tipped him over the edge"

so Luke had been forgetting, not just because of the poison

"I thought I might not have to do anything at all, thought he might die all on his own, then i wouldn't have to enforce the rules of my game, but then he started to recover, the damage to his mind was healing, so I applied some pressure with my poison and his mind snapped"

"you always wanted Luke to die"

a grim glee lit up her face at my words

"oh indeed, my minions thought I was losing my touch when they heard my plan, such a gentle death for him, but you, the suffering you will feel, not just yours but the suffering of everyone close to you raging through your mind, bathed in such exquisite agony, oh I think I outdid myself"

I reached out with my mind, I'll force her to send me back

"oh don't bother, you can't scare me child, there are no fears in my mind that you can use against me"

she was right, I couldn't sense anything from her

"just wait, I'll even let you watch if you like, watch as he dies, then I can watch you slip into madness"

the screen came up with an image of Luke in his bed, this witch and her twisted games, games, all set up from here, this room in fact

"you're wrong"

she looked impressed

"do you really care so little for him that you would be unaffected by his death?, I don't think so"

wrong

"not about that, you're wrong because there is something you're afraid of"

reaching into my pocket quickly, I pulled out Luke's sonic pen, and with a flick of my wrist the consoles near the game master exploded

"where did you get that? what did you do?"

I felt a large amount of satisfaction, she's not as in control as she thinks

"with that nothing special, sealed all exits to this little compound of yours" i pointed the sonic again and caused a second explosion "that is what you have to worry about, because I just opened all internal doors in this place, and released all your pets from their cages"

alarms sounded, and i could see panic flit across her face

"you're bluffing boy, you're in here too, we'll both die"

"you threatened the life of the most important person in my life, if he dies then I might as well die, and if I die you're definitely coming with me!"

I could hear the sounds of the aliens outside carving a bloody path to our destination

"you can't do this"

she's right in a way

"you're right, why should I have all the fun" pointing Luke's pen again the cameras sprung to life "hello universe, tonight I bring you a spectacular event, the final game, featuring the game master herself, the game is simple, you open the teleport relays and you live, if not we die, one way or the other, the games are over"

I let a vicious smile cross my face

"what will it be?"

i could see her panic stricken eyes move from my face to the monitors, watching the quickly advancing creatures. i could hear them getting closer

"if I open the relays then you'll kill me, they're my only leverage"

what to do

"I swear on Luke's life that I will not kill you"

my words added a gravity to the situation, she finally acknowledged that i was serious

"brat"

she moved to the relays and removed the bio-lock, I quickly sealed the doors again

"thank you, I'll leave you alive as promised" I powered up the teleport relay, and before she could interfere opened 5 links and brought five different aliens into the room "but I can't promise that they won't"

I looked at each of the aliens that I had teleported, each race had felt the effects of her twisted game

"this is the game master, she is directly responsible for the suffering your planets went through, enjoy"

anger ripped through her face, quickly replaced by fear as the aliens advanced on her, turning my back I activated the relays and sent myself back to earth

"Marcus what happened"

I held up my hands to silence the barrage of questions

"no time, I need all of you, with your help I can save Luke"

wordlessly we moved into Luke's room, complete trust on their faces

"Luke's mind is collapsing, its been corrupted, but it isn't gone yet, between the four of us we know enough about Luke, have enough memories to attempt a reboot of sorts"

Clyde quickly stepped forwards

"will that work, I mean you're less about thoughts and memories and more about emotions"

it was risky but we had to try

"emotions are linked to memories Clyde, and memories have power, I can use that power to save him"

that silenced him and Rani, but Sarah-Jane stepped forwards

"Marcus what are the risks?"

why does she care

"to Luke none, if it doesn't work he's no worse off, to you guys none, you'll be the battery not the converter, to me...that doesn't matter its my decision"

I suspected she wanted to argue, but her love for Luke prevented her from voicing those arguments

"right now all of you, just concentrate on Luke, your memories of him, everything you know, I'll do the rest"

placing my hand on Luke's temples I first reached out to Rani then Clyde and finally Sarah-Jane

"alright Luke come back"

the university disappeared I was in the dark, at first I thought there was nothing, that Luke was already gone, but then I saw him standing in the dark

"I know you"

it was a statement not a question, that was good

"yeah Luke you know me, I'm here to help you, I'm here to help you remember"

he looked confused

"remember what?"

I stepped forwards and took his hand in mine

"I'm here to help you remember this"

I reached for the connections to his family and let it all flow through me, the dark was banished and filled with light that spread and touched faded shapes throughout his mind, it faltered for a second, before his old memories started to stir, and then it spread like wildfire, I saw his life, everything reconnect as the light stormed outwards

"Marcus!"

he caught me as I stumbled, there's so much, but if I stop now it will undone. i kept the light flowing, using my own memories, everything we had done together poured out of my mind i held only one memory back

"i'm sorry Luke, I should have shown you this a long time ago"

i let my last memory spill across my connection, the feelings we both shared, tied the light together united Luke's mind

I woke up in Luke's room, for one unbearable second his eyes remained shut, but they opened and the breath we'd all been holding was released, and the gentle silence was replaced by an eruption of noise. taking a step back I let a very confused Luke get hugged by his mother, followed swiftly by Clyde and Rani. it took us the rest of the evening to explain everything to Luke. Clyde disappeared for a few minutes but he returned with a pizza feast and we had a mini-party. I was buzzing through the whole party I could feel the positive emotions of everyone going through my head it was brilliant. the clocks approached midnight, I looked at Luke and could see he was just as tired as me, Sarah-Jane noticed too and called an end to the celebrations, leaving with Clyde and Rani to find a couple of hotel rooms for the night as the five of us would never fit into Luke's room.

"you two get some sleep, Clyde, Rani make sure you ring your parents, and Luke we'll see you tomorrow"

Clyde and Rani disappeared out of the door, Sarah-Jane turned around and looked me in the eyes

"is Luke going to be okay Marcus?"

I took a look at Luke, he had all his memories, and despite being tired there were no other symptoms

"I'll have K-9 keep an eye on him over the next month or so, but he should be fine"

she smiled at both of us

"Luke I love you"

Luke returned her smile

"love you too mum"

she disappeared to catch up with Clyde and Rani

"now that mums convinced I'm OK, you have to convince me that you're OK, I can see how tired you are, saving me can't have been easy"

I could feel exhaustion creeping across my mind, sleep sounded really good right about now

"it was a close call, but I should be fine"

he visibly relaxed against his bedroom wall

"now that you're convinced of my well-being, there's something I need to apologise for, I wasn't honest with you, and then I almost lost my chance to tell you..."

he moved his hand over my mouth, I let a frown crease my face

"sorry Marcus, but this is one of the best ways to get you to stop talking. I know what you're about to say, I saw it all in your head, or my head i suppose, and you were more honest with me than you think. you asked me for time"

he was smiling happily, and I knew why

"I know, and I've had plenty of time to think, and...I really do like you Luke"

I lent forwards and pulled him close into a gentle kiss, he hesitated for a second before I felt him respond in kind, deepening the kiss. after a few seconds we broke apart

"right, sleep time Luke" I tried to lean back but Luke still had his arms around me "don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, I'll be here when you wake up"

satisfied he let his arms fall to his side and curled up under his covers. I set up the spare mattress and collapsed, letting myself drift off into a content sleep.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"is it time yet we're going to have to intervene soon, else the prison will shatter before they're ready"

two lone figures were stood outside the university

"not yet River, he won't recognise me yet, won't trust me yet, besides, i remember this night even if the universe ended tomorrow I wouldn't interrupt"

River song turned and considered the man beside her

"alright, well don't wait too long if you don't interfere soon, nothing will change. anyway I have to leave, I have a prior engagement with the doctor, i'll be back when the time is right, and good luck"

River disappeared in a flash of light and left her lone companion on his own

"enjoy this night, soon the peace of tonight will shatter, and everything will change"


End file.
